Yang Miaozhen

Yang Miaozhen

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Yang Miaozhen (simplified: 杨妙真, traditional: 楊妙真, pinyin: Yáng Miàozhēn, jyutping: joeng4 miu6 zan1) was the wife of Li Quan, leader of the Loyalty Army in Shandong, and was famed for her pear-blossom spear. She was said to have been “unbeatable under heaven for twenty years with the pear-blossom spear” (二十年梨花枪，天下无敌手).

Biography

The Loyalty Army

As the Jin suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of the Mongols, the Han people of Shandong rose up and took much territory, choosing Li Quan of Weizhou as their leader. Li Quan was very able, and his wife Yang Miaozhen was more formidable still. Together with Li Quan’s elder brother Li Fu, the three routed the Jin troops, and the people of Shandong flocked to join them. The Song court under Shi Miyuan gave Li Quan office and his troops the formal name of the Loyalty Army, and later promoted him further after he drove back a Jin advance towards the Yangtze, but remained deeply suspicious of him. The general Xu Guo, placed above Li Quan to keep him in check, treated the couple with no courtesy and always punished the Loyalty Army in its quarrels with the regular Song troops; while Li Quan was at the Qingzhou front, Loyalty Army men in the rear mutinied and killed Xu Guo’s household, and Xu Guo killed himself. Mutinous Loyalty Army officers also killed Li Fu, and the couple had to send troops to put down the revolt.

The defence of Qingzhou

When the Mongols, having beaten the Jin, advanced into Shandong and attacked Qingzhou, the merchants of the region sang the praises of Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen, and Huang Rong asked Guo Jing to go so that she could see the famous pear-blossom spear for herself. The couple received them politely but, taking them for youngsters of no special ability, paid them little heed, being more occupied with the mutiny than with the approaching enemy.

When the Mongol vanguard arrived, Guo Jing and Huang Rong stood alone before the drawbridge of the empty city, and Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen rode up to stand beside them, he with a dao and she with a spear. Huang Rong silently admired her, helmeted and armoured, with a gleaming pear-blossom spear in her hand. The Mongol commander proved to be Tolui, Guo Jing’s sworn brother, and after talking with Guo Jing he withdrew. That evening the couple came to toast Guo Jing at his inn, but when Li Quan suggested that, as a friend of the Mongol commander, Guo Jing might help them negotiate a surrender, Guo Jing rebuked him, and the two left ashamed. Guo Jing predicted that Li Quan would surrender if the Mongols returned, and he later did so when surrounded by a great Mongol army.

Personality & traits

Yang Miaozhen was renowned as an even more formidable fighter than her able husband, and cut a heroic figure in helmet and armour.

Martial arts abilities

Yang Miaozhen’s fame rested on her pear-blossom spear (梨花枪), with which she was reputed to have been unbeatable for twenty years.

Relationships

  • Li Quan — Her husband, leader of the Loyalty Army.
  • Li Fu (李福) — Her husband’s elder brother, killed by mutineers.
  • Guo Jing and Huang Rong — Came to help defend Qingzhou against the Mongols.

Behind the scenes

Yang Miaozhen and Li Quan were historical figures, and Yang Miaozhen was renowned for her martial skill. They appear only in the third (revised) edition: Jin Yong’s afterword explains that the third edition replaced the episode of Lü Wenhuan’s defence of Xiangyang with Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen leading the Loyalty Army in defence of Qingzhou, to fit history and geography, leaving the defence of Xiangyang to be developed in The Return of the Condor Heroes.

See also

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